SAT is Math and CR only not the total score.
Noticed on the CSU mentor website, the calculation does state SAT total, but in reality it is only your SAT math and SAT critical reading score.
GPA X 800) + SAT Critical Reading + SAT Math
Or
(GPA X 200) + (10 x ACT Composite)
Your numbers seem a little off NJgirl, but maybe I am misreading your post. Aunt Bea has summed up the costs nicely- I think you are underestimating your room and board. Even if you could get someplace for $400/month, that does not include utilities so it is probably closer to $500/month. Also keep in mind that most off-campus apartments are leased on a 12-month basis, unless maybe you could sub-lease it out during the summer. Just make sure to include realistic numbers in your budget estimate. As a side note, I don’t think I would want my daughter living in $400/month housing in that particular area (I know that is not what you asked so ignore this comment if desired!).
Just curious why you are interested in this particular Cal State Campus. It is very much a commuter school in a higher crime area. There is always traffic and while public transportation in the immediate area is OK, LA is a hard city to live in without a car. We are not known for our great public transportation. There are other CS campuses which are in much nicer areas. I personally don’t think the education you would receive at any Cal State campus is worth the OOS tuition. They are not generally recognized outside of the state. Again, not what you asked, but I feel like a lot of OOS students have a perception of college in California which is not always accurate. This campus definitely does not fit the stereotype of Southern California that you often see on TV. Sorry to add to what you asked, but just something to consider.
@Gumbymom Thank you!
@takeitallin I’m not sure if they include utilities, although since it’s with two or three others, I’m guessing we’d all split the bill. I thought almost all apartments are on a 12-month lease, most are here. That would be fine with me, I’d prefer to stay in CA for the summer. I saw 2 bedrooms for $1600, in an okay area. I wouldn’t live somewhere like East LA or Compton. I’d rather work more hours & live in a decent area.
I’m interested in CSULA because it seems to be a good match. I know it’s a commuter school, & I’ll have a car once I’d begin. I know public transportation in CA isn’t as accessible as in NYC. I’m going to visit CA, hopefully before I apply (at the latest, before I accept). I know CSULA doesn’t have a typical LA vibe, although I wouldn’t mind. (I want to live in CA for life, so I can live with the beach bums later). I am also interested in San Diego State, what is that school like?
Another reason I’m interested in CSULA is because of the low tuition. I’ve made a chart of my net prices for all NJ colleges, if you’d like to see. All except 3 are above 20K. There are two low-cost rural colleges, although I’m not considering those (I’m not moving to South Jersey). Montclair is local, & around 6K, which is my #1 in-state school. That doesn’t include R&B, though, and local rents are outrageous.
@takeitallin ^^^^^^ put into words what I couldn’t say, in very diplomatic language. Unfortunately, you’re picking schools, in SoCal unfamiliar to you, that are in questionable and in harsh areas with high crime rates, in your desperation to get to California. You seem to fazed by some fantasy or TV image that only works if you are rich and can buy property in Malibu or La Jolla. I really do not like to discourage young people, but you really need to be aware of what you face here.
I noticed you put SD City College as a safety. Although it is a good school, and is east of downtown, the area is not considered safe. (I work a few blocks from there in a guarded building.)
We had a girl murdered in one of the bathrooms on City’s campus. The area has a lot of homeless encampments (who, for the most part are law-abiding folk, however, if they’re not on their meds, anything can happen). It is not considered a “safe” campus locally. Our local homeless shelters are in the area. The locals who live in the immediate area/neighborhood are heavily Spanish speaking. Our local chamber of commerce doesn’t publicize these things.
Now, SDSU is your typical Southern California college. However, the school is the second most popular school in the state and gets a large influx of its students from area high schools, with local agreements to admit local students. (SDSU received about 60k apps, Long Beach gets on average 80k to 100k applications). Unfortunately, ESPN has shown the SDSU campus with its Beautiful Spanish architecture, palm trees and grass lined paths on TV. The school and weather attracts lots of state students
Sadly, your stats are nowhere near what current admitted students are coming in with as far as GPA’s and SAT scores. My friend’s dd just got in with a 2300 SAT, and both parents graduated from SDSU, She is from the Valencia area north of LA and she was really worried about not being admitted.
Since you are young and have time, I would suggest you postpone your plans until grad school. California can wait until you are in a better position to deal with the financial issues. I have two dd’s similar in age, who work, but need our financial help, (and medical and car insurance help) to survive living here on their own while in school. Fortunately, we are able to help all of our 3 children because my husband has a very good job.
You’ll be a lot happier not running yourself into the ground by trying to work and go to school here without decent monies. This happens to a lot of instate kids who end up not finishing school and working to just pay the bills. I have 3 nephews in this position who didn’t finish school and didn’t receive parent help (their parents couldn’t afford the college fees) and are stuck in low paying jobs, trying to go to school part time, and these guys all live at their parents homes because they can’t afford the rents and food independently.
Think with your head and not your heart.
What is your intended major?
Yes Eligibility Index includes SAT Math + CR not total SAT.
SDSU admission is highly competitive.
I would guess more like $600 - $800 plus another $100-$150 for your share of the rent + utilities. 2 BR tend to be around/over $2400/month. You will blend in better if you are dark complexioned. There is a metro line stop at CSULA that can take you downtown. If you look for rentals, E and SE (say Alhambra or Monterrey Park) may feel safer than going W or NW to East LA or Lincoln Park.
I would think all the CSUs would be very similar in cost. I would go for a newer one in a better neighborhood: CSU San Marcos or Channel Islands come immediately to mind. They may have lower rents since they are on the outskirts of town (North San Diego County and NE of LA among the strawberry fields, respectively).
Post #22 captures a lot of good advice.
Another less expensive option is to consider California CCs then transfer to a CSU. Looking at an NPC, annual cost without housing and other expenses for 2013-2014 was just over $11K. Then add in housing, insurances etc. We can recommend several CCs.
@newjerseygirrl98: I know you have your mind set on coming to California for school. That is fine, but you should listen to the above posters in regards to Cal State LA. California has 23 Cal State universities and all are very similar in price. Why LA? San Marcos is an excellent option and close to the San Diego area. They also offer better transportation options listed in the link: http://www.csusm.edu/guide/transit.html
San Marcos is near beaches and the San Diego/La Jolla area, a newer campus and a better and safer area for finding housing.
If you come for a visit, you should look at several of the other Cal States in the area such as Northridge, Fullerton, San Marcos and Cal Poly Pomona.
SDSU/CSULB would be a difficult admit due to your SAT score and GPA, but the other schools would be more of a Match/High Match.
Here is a link for all the Cal States for you to explore and a link of the campuses location in California
http://www.calstate.edu/search_find/campus.shtml
http://www.calstate.edu/datastore/campus_map.shtml
If you are going to spend the money as an OOS student for a Cal State, there are much better options than Cal State LA.
EVERYONE: Please stop trying to change my mind about CA. I may apply to different schools, but some will definitely be in CA. It’s ultimately my decision.
@aunt bea I live in a city that’s about 70% Spanish, & not great. I don’t think these areas are “nice”. I’m just used to this type of area, so it wouldn’t bother me. I’m not coming from a small town. NJ has tons of dangerous cities, Camden is the most dangerous in the US. I’m wouldn’t live in East LA, so I’ll be fine in a poor area.
I know SDSU is hard to get into, that’s why I haven’t really been considering it. I’m going to make a budget before I confirm acceptances, to make sure I really can do it. My net prices of NJ colleges (even CC) are much higher than CSULA’s. I live in an expensive state NOW, a state more expensive than CA. So, where am I expected to go?
@itsjustschool Thank you! Alhambra sounds familiar, this may have been where some of the rentals were. I’m light, but I’m from a poorer area, so I don’t think I’ll stand out.
@Happy2Help I’m going for social work. CSULA has a BSW, which has been extremely hard to find. Some colleges have something similar, though. Yes, please recommend some CC’s. I stopped considering them because many people said as an OOS student, they’ll be ridiculously expensive. My LA City estimate was 23K before aid, more expensive than CSULA.
@Gumbymom I just picked CSULA because it seemed to be a match, and had great reviews. (Not because it’s in LA, as many are assuming). I did think being in LA may be better, because most large cities have many transplants. San Marcos is 8,910, before FA, which is a great price. With the Pell Grant, this would only be around 3K, which is much less than NJ schools. Thanks for the info.
FYI: Why do you plan to get a BSW? In California, you have to have an MSW in order to work. There are no jobs for BSW. You have to go to grad school.
San Marcos is a nice campus, but OOS tuition and fees are $33K for non-residents (see link). How will you pay? The area has nice housing but it’s very expensive around there. https://www.csusm.edu/finaid/cost/1516non_resident.html
If you are set on Cal States, I suggest looking at:
Sonoma State-about an hour north of San Francisco in Rohnert Park near Santa Rosa. Beautiful, smaller campus, very safe
Cal State San Marcos- as others have mentioned, just north of San Diego and close to beaches with a beautiful campus
Cal State Fullerton is a little more urban and bigger than the first 2. It is south of Los Angeles
Cal State Northridge is also more urban, just north of LA, it is more of a commuter school
The 2 Cal Poly campuses are difficult for admissions, as is Long Beach and San Diego State.
Channel Islands is the newest campus and is very rural. It is 1/2 way between LA and Santa Barbara and while beautiful, is pretty isolated and small. It is very near the coast and the weather is beautiful.
@Takeitallin, I don’t think the OP has the funding or grades to attend some of the other Cal State’s. OP is on a limited budget and is an OOS.
Channel Islands might work because they need the students. San Marcos is not that close to the beach, especially having to take the 78 west or using the back roads. A good 25 minutes to Carlsbad on that two-lane county highway if the traffic is okay. (I hate that highway since it is ALWAYS backed up, especially during the fire season).
@aunt bea I plan to get a MSW, it’s required in most states! I’d prefer to be in one school throughout college, though (CSULA has BSW & MSW). Once again, my net price is much less than the sticker price. Most people don’t pay sticker price, & low-income families such as mine. Cal State LA is in a cheaper area, which is why it would work for me. Does the San Marcos’ area has several apartments, as LA? If not, I may not be able to rent with others. My bank has said I may be eligible for their student loans, (up to 120K), with a 6-month grace period & monthly installments. So, I’m more worried about housing than tuition. Would Channel Islands be a good match?
@takeitallin I was considering CSULB, but I’d need better scores. Thank you!
Channel Islands is an easier admit since it is a non-impacted campus and looking for more students. It is more isolated than most of the other campuses. You would need to do research and the availability of housing in the area.
This link may help: http://csuci.och101.com
It looks like San Marcos and Channel Islands do not offer a BS in Social Work. Here is a link for Cal state majors and which are open for social work (easier admit) and which are impacted (hard admit).
https://www.calstate.edu/sas/documents/impactedprogramsmatrix.pdf
San Marcos is in a very good area of the county but very expensive in the North county.
“Most people don’t pay sticker price, & low-income families such as mine” Yes, they do pay sticker. Where did you get that insane idea??? California is very “different” from other states; we have so many weird laws and statutes in the state and counties that are approved by the voters to equalize the “playing” field. Making uninformed blanket statements, like that, shows your naivety. Maybe Jersey does that, but we have too many laws and consumer advocate groups, for public information, that prevents anything like that. We don’t have swap meet prices and deals. It’s pay what is stated.
California is out of money for education, Governor Brown, under pressure from taxpayers, has made it a priority to fund California taxpayers for their educations, so the schools have to charge and make up for fees through OOS charges.
You are OOS and they will charge sticker. There are no discounts. Low income state residents get charged the same rates for education but have those fees are paid for through our multiple instate programs. Your prices will not be lowered since that would encourage more than hundreds of thousands of OOS students to flee their states and come to California and stretch our state budget. The state won’t allow that. We have extreme laws on public information especially on fees.
You cannot register for classes until all fees are paid. They will drop you from classes immediately if something is missing. They can’t accommodate low-income OOS students because they can barely accommodate instate students. Everyone wants to come to California, and the schools know this. They stick to the fees.
North county is expensive. The areas that seem cheap, are that way for a police blogger reason.
@Gumbymom Thank you. There’s nothing similar, either, such as human services. So, I don’t think Channel Islands or San Marcos are good matches, unfortunately.
@aunt bea I got that idea from several reviews about CSULA. I know they don’t give much, though. (I’m low income & would only receive about 2K). Why are you acting as if New Jersey is so cheap? It’s more expensive here, NJ’s cost of living is higher (see article)! It does say CA’s homes are a little more, but I live in Bergen county (next to NYC), so this isn’t the case.
Jersey isn’t “like that”, actually. I’ve said dozens of times, in-state I’d still pay 20K+, (no R&B), at almost every school. California has those “programs” for low-income students, but New Jersey does not! There is ONE decent school with an estimate around mine at CSULA. I’m not repeating myself any longer.
I’ve said several times: I don’t want every thread flooded with comments about money, I’m still going to apply to CA schools! But, that statement is being completely ignored.
@newjerseygirl98: I would still take a look at the other campuses besides CSULA that offer Social work. Many are in nicer areas and may be less expensive for housing than the LA area such as Cal Poly Pomona and Northridge. Both within 20-30 mins from downtown LA. If you plan to get a car, then the distance should not be an issue but unfortunately the traffic will be a problem. I am an alumi from Cal Poly Pomona and live near the area, so if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. Good Luck and I hope all goes well for you and you can make your dream come true.
I would suggest Bakersfield since the cost of living is cheaper there; but there is a downside.
Apply to the schools, only you will know if you will be able to pay.